Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method and apparatus for continuously forming functional deposited films with a large area by decomposing and exciting starting gases through plasma reactions caused by a novel microwave energy applicator capable of generating a uniform microwave plasma over a large area. More particularly, the invention relates to a method and apparatus for continuously forming functional deposited films with good uniformity over a large area by drastically increasing the utilization efficiency of the starting gases and at high speed. By this, mass production of large area thin film semiconductor devices such as photovoltaic devices can be realized at low costs.